Bahrain is an island country consisting of a small archipelago situated between the Qatar peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the 25-kilometre (16 mi) King Fahd Causeway. Bahrain is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore and the smallest nation in the Arab world.

 

In the late 1800s, following a series of treaties with the British, Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom. It reaffirmes its full sovereignty in 1971 and was declared a Kingdom in 2002. The island Kingdom is ruled by the Al Khalifa dynasty as a constitutional monarchy. The Kingdom is governed by a civil legal system.

 

During the years of reduced hydrocarbon exports, Bahrain has worked to diversify its economy and has emerged as a major financial hub for the region. It has also developed a major tourism sector and is a key producer of aluminium for the region. In mid-2018, Bahrain announced the discovery of the Al Khaleej oil field which contains some 80 billion barrels of shale oil.

 

Bahrain is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the World Trade Organization.